Gizzards. I've never been a fan of them.
Partially I never knew how to cook them well and have them taste good.
I had goose gizzards on my hands....From working on goose this week.
I followed Hank Shaw's recipe w/ the exception that I used a sea salt, a quarter piece of yellow onion, shiitake mushrooms and I had a digital slow cooker...So I had put it on warm for a little over 8 hours (as that's approximately btw 150 - 200 degrees F)....
Would I try this recipe again? Most definitely.
Recipe courtesy of Hank Shaw
GIZZARD CONFIT WITH WILD MUSHROOMS
You can use any gizzard here, too, from wild ducks and geese to chickens and turkeys. Stick to birds at least as large as a wild duck, however, as you want to be able to slice the cooked gizzards thin.
Serves 4-6 as an appetizer
Prep Time: 6 hours
Cook Time: 8 hours
- 8-10 duck gizzards, cleaned
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 4-6 tablespoons duck fat, olive oil or lard
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh chanterelle, hedgehog or other mushrooms (I had used shiitake)
- 3 large shallots, chopped fine (used a section of orange onion)
- 2-3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- Fresh thyme for garnish
- Juice of 1/2 lemon or a splash of verjus
- Black pepper
The next day, rinse off the gizzards and dry with paper towels. Get a large pot of water hot – you want it steaming, not simmering.
Put the gizzards into a vacuum seal bag in one layer, and pack in the duck fat or lard. You can use olive oil here, but it is harder to work with because it’s liquid. Seal the bag tight with the vacuum sealer; you won’t be able to do this if you are using olive oil, so get as much air out as you can. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can approximate this with a Ziploc bag – push all the air out of the bag first.
Submerge the bag in the hot water. Shoot for a temperature of about 160 degrees. Once the water is about this hot, it is easy to maintain that temperature over a very low heat. Cook this way for at least 4 hours, and 8 hours is better.
To make the dish, get a very large frying pan hot over high heat. Add in the mushrooms and shake the pan to cook. Keep the pan moving until you see the mushrooms give up their water. Sprinkle them with salt. Toss from time to time until all the water is gone.
Add some of the fat from the gizzard bag and the shallots and toss to combine. Keep cooking over high heat until you just start to see the shallots brown. Add the garlic and the fresh thyme, and cook for another 2 minutes, tossing often.
To serve, slice the gizzards very thin and add to the mushrooms. Add the verjus or lemon juice and toss to combine and serve at once with black pepper over the top.
